History Music / TheGuessWho

It's hard to know if anyone was actually fooled by the "Guess Who?" ruse, but listeners still responded to the actual record, which topped the charts in Canada (and was a sizable hit in the US and Australia). As a result, the impromptu new name stuck -- eventually becoming The Guess Who. Soon after, Chad Allen left as keyboardist/vocalist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman took creative control.

* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Burton Cummings originally joined the band as a keyboardist and secondary lead singer, but he the band's full-time lead singer after Chad Allen (the original frontman) left the band.

It's hard to know if anyone was actually fooled by the "Guess Who?" ruse, but listeners still responded to the actual record, which topped the charts in Canada (and was a sizable hit in the US and Australia). As a result, the impromptu new name stuck -- eventually becoming The Guess Who. Soon after, Chad Allen left as Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman took creative control.

* LysistrataGambit: "No Sugar Tonight" was apparently inspired by an actual conversation between a would-be mugger and his partner when she caught him trying to mug a member of the band.

'''The Guess Who''' was a Canadian rock band that essentially became Canada's answer to Music/TheBeatles: a breakthrough rock act that helped establish Canada's presence in popular music in the rock era.

The band was originally called "Chad Allen and the Reflections," [[note]]As there was another band called "The Reflections" they changed to "Chad Allen and the Expressions". Then they found out there was band called, "The Expressions". That is what led to "Guess Who?" being used, as below.[[/note]] and issued a few singles under that name in Canada. Then they covered the British hit "Shakin' All Over", and the record company decided to market it as by "Guess Who?" in an attempt to build an impression that the record was actually performed by a famous British group working incognito. Members of The Beatles, perhaps? The Rolling Stones, maybe? Well, no -- just a bunch of kids from Winnipeg.

That confidence combined with its undeniable talent paid off in 1970 when it became the first Canadian rock band to have a #1 hit single, "American Woman," which reflected much of Canada's distinctive ambivalence living next to a super power which Prime Minister UsefulNotes/PierreTrudeau described as like "sleeping with an elephant."

The band would have a string of international hits that would mark it as Canada's biggest band for years, especially with the 1971 establishment of the Canadian Content broadcast rulings that allowed Canadian acts to have airplay without being overwhelmed by primarily American music. [[note]]For radio play this happened in 1971, with the establishment of the MAPL system to determine Canadian Content, or CanCon.[[/note]] Some tension between Bachman and the others, partly brought on by Bachman's conversion to UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} (a religion he later abandoned) led him to leave the band in 1970, recording a solo album and forming Brave Belt which morphed into Bachman-Turner Overdrive a few years later, as well as the later bands Ironhorse and Union. Cummings would leave for a successful solo career of his own in 1976, after which the Guess Who disbanded. Bassist Jim Kale gained control of the band name, and put out various line-ups with no other original members over the years. These lineups generally tour the US but very deliberately avoid Canada, where Canadian concert-goers are steadfastly vociferous that The Guess Who must include Burton Cummings (and very probably Randy Bachman), or they won't bother to show up.

The band would have a string of international hits that would mark it as Canada's biggest band for years, especially with the 1972 establishment of the Canadian Content broadcast rulings that allowed Canadian acts to have airplay without being overwhelmed by primarily American music. Some tension between Bachman and the others, partly brought on by Bachman's conversion to UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} (a religion he later abandoned) led him to leave the band in 1970, recording a solo album and forming Brave Belt which morphed into Bachman-Turner Overdrive a few years later, as well as the later bands Ironhorse and Union. Cummings would leave for a successful solo career of his own in 1976, after which the Guess Who disbanded. Bassist Jim Kale gained control of the band name, and put out various line-ups with no other original members over the years. These lineups generally tour the US but very deliberately avoid Canada, where Canadian concert-goers are steadfastly vociferous that The Guess Who must include Burton Cummings (and very probably Randy Bachman), or they won't bother to show up.

The band would have a string of international hits that would mark it as Canada's biggest band for years, especially with the 1972 establishment of the Canadian Content broadcast rulings that allowed Canadian acts to have airplay without being overwhelmed by primarily American music. Some tension between Bachman and the others, partly brought on by Bachman's conversion to UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} (a religion he later abandoned) led him to leave the band in 1970, forming Bachman-Turner Overdrive a few years later, as well as the later bands Ironhorse and Union. Cummings would leave for a successful solo career of his own in 1976, after which the Guess Who disbanded. Bassist Jim Kale gained control of the band name, and put out various line-ups with no other original members over the years. These lineups generally tour the US but very deliberately avoid Canada, where Canadian concert-goers are steadfastly vociferous that The Guess Who must include Burton Cummings (and very probably Randy Bachman), or they won't bother to show up.

* InTheStyleOf: They did a few songs that were pretty obviously a musical homage to a different artist, like "Undun" (Music/TheZombies) and "American Woman" (Music/LedZeppelin). Bachman continued doing this in Bachman-Turner Overdrive, with "Blue Collar" (Music/{{Santana}}) and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (Music/TheWho).

The band was originally called "Chad Allen and the Reflections," and issued a few singles under that name in Canada. Then they covered the British hit "Shakin' All Over", and the record company decided to market it as by "Guess Who?" in an attempt to build an impression that the record was actually performed by a famous British group working incognito. Members of The Beatles, perhaps? The Rolling Stones, maybe? Well, no -- just a bunch of kids from Winnipeg.

* WordSaladLyrics: Bachman often went to the "meaningful but cryptic" well in his lyrics ("Undun", "A Wednesday in Your Garden"), while Cummings was a master of the "as long as it fits the meter and sounds good, who cares if it makes sense?" school ("Albert Flasher", "Runnin' Back to Saskatoon").

* WordSaladLyrics: Bachman often went to the "meaningful but cryptic" well in his lyrics ("Undun", "A Wednesday in Your Garden"), while Cummings was a master of the "as long as it fits the meter and sounds good, who cares?" school ("Albert Flasher", "Runnin' Back to Saskatoon").

The band would have a string of international hits that would mark it as Canada's biggest band for years, especially with the 1972 establishment of the Canadian Content broadcast rulings that allowed Canadian acts to have airplay without being overwhelmed by primarily American music. Eventually, Bachman would leave to form a band that became Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Cummings left for a successful solo career of his own after which the Guess Who eventually disbanded. Bassist Jim Kale gained control of the band name, and put out various line-ups with no other original members over the years. These lineups generally tour the US but very deliberately avoid Canada, where Canadian concert-goers are steadfastly vociferous that The Guess Who must include Burton Cummings (and very probably Randy Bachman), or they won't bother to show up.

* WordSaladLyrics: Bachman often went to the "meaningful but cryptic" well in his lyrics ("Undun", "A Wednesday in Your Garden"), while Cummings was a master of "as long as it fits the meter and sounds good, who cares?" school ("Albert Flasher", "Runnin' Back to Saskatoon").

* ListingCities: "Runnin' Back to Saskatoon" mentions a whole bunch of Canadian locales. Besides Saskatoon, the chorus mentions other towns in Saskatchewan (Moose Jaw, Moosomin), plus Alberta (Red Deer, Medicine Hat) and British Columbia (Terrace).

* ProtestSong: "American Woman" is an analogy to America's cultural domination, which is especially becoming apparent around the time of UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.

* AmericanTitle: The Band’s biggest hit, "American Woman"

The band was originally called "Chad Allen and the Reflections," and issued a few singles under that name in Canada. Then they covered the British hit "Shakin' All Over", and the record company decided to market it as by "Guess Who?" in an attempt to build an impression that the record was actually performed by a famous British group working incognito. Members of The Beatles, perhaps? The Rolling Stones? It's hard to know if anyone was actually fooled by the ruse, but listeners still responded to the actual record, which topped the charts in Canada (and was a sizable hit in the US and Australia). As a result, the impromptu new name stuck -- eventually becoming The Guess Who. Soon after, Chad Allen left as Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman took creative control.

The band was originally called "Chad Allen and the Reflections," and issued a few singles under that name in Canada. Then they covered the British hit "Shakin' All Over", and the record company decided to market it as by "Guess Who?" in an attempt to build an impression that the record was actually performed by a famous British group working incognito. Members of The Beatles, perhaps? The Rolling Stones? It's hard to know if anyone was actually fooled, but the record topped the charts in Canada (and was a sizable hit in the US and Australia), and the impromptu name stuck -- eventually becoming The Guess Who. Soon after, Chad Allen left as Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman took creative control.

The band was originally called "Chad Allen and the Expressions," in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba until a concert promotion hyped their presence as a surprise as in "Guess who?" on the poster. As it happened, the promotion worked too well and the impromptu name stuck as The Guess Who. Eventually, Chad Allen left as Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman took creative control.

The band would have a string of international hits that would mark it as Canada's biggest band for years, especially with the establishment of the Canadian Content broadcast rulings that allowed Canadian acts to have airplay without being overwhelmed by primarily American music. Eventually, Bachman would leave to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Cummings left for a successful solo career of his own after which the Guess Who eventually disbanded.

Eventually, Bachman, now also famous as the host of ''Vinyl Tap'' on Creator/{{CBC}} Radio, and Cummings would tour together often as the de facto reunited Guess Who as "Burton-Cummings," even if the trademark of that name was owned by others.

Tropes

American Title: The Band’s biggest hit, “American Woman”

Eventually, Bachman, now also famous as the host of ''Vinyl Tap'' on Creator/{{CBC}} Radio, and Cummings would tour together often as the de facto reunited Guess Who as "Burton-Cummings," even if the trademark of that name was owned by others.

Part of its rise to fame in the 1960s is that it refused to play to the dismissive trope of CanadaDoesNotExist in North American popular culture. Instead, unlike other acts who went south to the US and downplayed their origins to find their fortune as disguised Americans, the Guess Who defiantly stayed in Canada, proud of their country internationally in reflection of its growing self-confidence that its Centennial helped encourage. For instance, check out this musical TV appearance and notice that the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLQJ4toj-JY recently established maple leaf Canadian flag is front and center]].

Part of its rise to fame in the 1960s is that it refused to play to the dismissive trope of CanadaDoesNotExist in North American popular culture. Instead, unlike other acts who went south to the US and downplayed their origins to find their fortune as disguised Americans, the Guess Who defiantly stayed in Canada, proud of their country internationally in reflection of its growing self-confidence that its Centennial helped encourage. For instance, check out this musical TV appearance and notice that the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLQJ4toj-JY recent maple leaf Canadian flag is front and center]].

'''The Guess Who''' was an Canadian rock band that essentially became Canada's answer to Music/TheBeatles: a breakthrough rock act that helped establish Canada's presence in popular music in the rock era.

Part of its rise to fame in the 1960s is that it refused to play to the dismissive trope of CanadaDoesNotExist in North American popular culture. Instead, unlike other acts who went south to the US and downplayed their origins to find their fortune as disguised Americans, the Guess Who defiantly stayed in Canada, proud of their country internationally in reflection of its growing self-confidence that its Centennial helped encourage.

Eventually, Bachman, now also famous as the host of ''Vinyl Tap'' on Creator/{{CBC}} Radio, and Cummings would tour together often as the de facto reunited Guess Who, even if the trademark of that name was owned by others.

The band was originally called "Chad Allen and the Impressions," in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba until a concert promotion hyped their presence as a surprise as in "Guess who?" on the poster. As it happened, the promotion worked too well and the impromptu name stuck as The Guess Who. Eventually, Chad Allen left as Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman took creative control.

The band was originally called "Chad Allen and the Impressions," in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba until a concert promotion hyped their presence as a surprise as in "Guess who?" on the post. As it happened, the promotion worked too well and the impromptu name stuck as The Guess Who. Eventually, Chad Allen left as Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman took creative control.